Carolyn Ann Preston

carolyn preston

          Carolyn Ann Preston, age 80, of Princeton, Illinois, and formerly of Portage, Indiana, passed away Thursday, January 2, 2020, in her apartment at 500 S. Main Street.  She was born on November 2, 1939, in Quincy, Illinois, to the late Mary Lou Taylor Shaffer, formerly of Princeton and her deceased father, Charles Harold Preston of New Canton, Illinois.  Carolyn grew up in Hobart, Indiana, but lived in Portage, Indiana, most of her adult life.  She was very talented and worked in several careers such as newspaper editor, photographer, and Sheriff's Deputy Dispatcher in Porter County in Indiana.  She cared for so many people through her work at the Covenant  Children's Home in Princeton, a home for battered women in Valparaiso, Indiana, and as a foster grandparent at Lincoln Elementary School in Princeton.

 

            Carolyn is survived by her nephew, Michael Galinis; cousins Ruth Myers, James and Timmy Taylor; and beloved “adopted” grandchildren Rachel, Abigail and R.J. Peterson.  She was preceded in death by her stepfather, Leo Shaffer, who died August 6, 2000; her mom, Mary Lou Shaffer, on July 6, 2014; and her sister, Ava Galinis, born on January 11, 1937 and passed away on October 4, 2004.

 

            In Portage, Carolyn served as church chair and a deacon of Portage Evangelical Covenant Church where she was an active member of the church and Covenant Women Ministries until her move to Princeton in 2004.  In Princeton she was an active member of the Evangelical Covenant Church, helping serve as an assistant in the Wednesday night and Sunday morning kid's programs.

 

            In September of 2007, Carolyn, at the age of 68, and her late mother moved to Desamparados, Costa Rica, near San Jose, to live with missionaries Steve and Elizabeth Peterson.  During their stay in Costa Rica, Carolyn helped teach Sunday school at International Baptist Church and helped Elizabeth home-school and care for the kids.  After a sixth month furlough in Princeton in late 2009, Carolyn and her mother moved with the Petersons to Tenancingo, Mexico.  While there, Carolyn helped her mom remodel the nursery at their church, Comunidad Cristiana, and enjoyed participating in church life and being an active member of the missionary community in Tenancingo.  Upon her return to Princeton, Carolyn enjoyed fellowship with friends and family.

 

            Due to the shelter-in-place restrictions of the Coronavirus, a Celebration of Life service originally scheduled to be held on Saturday, May 2, 2020 at 11:00 am at the Evangelical Covenant Church of Princeton, 24 North Main Street, Princeton, Illinois, will be postponed until gathering restrictions are lifted.  An announcement of the service details will be published at a later date.  Memorials may be written to the Evangelical Covenant Church of Princeton in her memory. 

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